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How Chiropractors Help with Sciatica

HomeBlogHow Chiropractors Help with Sciatica

If you experience shooting pain that runs along your lower back and down into your legs, you are probably suffering from sciatica pain. Your sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in your body, and it runs from the buttocks to the toes. You begin to experience pain if you have a trapped nerve, disc herniation, or trigger point referral. Thankfully, professional chiropractic care can help treat sciatica.

How Chiropractors Help with Sciatica

Sciatica Symptoms

First, it is important to determine if you are indeed experiencing sciatica pain. If you suffer from any of the following symptoms, visit a chiropractor immediately:

  • Leg pain that worsens when sitting
  • Tingling or burning sensation down the leg
  • Numbness, weakness, or difficulty moving the foot or leg
  • Consistent pain on one side of your lower back
  • Intense and intolerable pain that makes it hard to stand

Chiropractic Treatment of Sciatica

Sciatica pain can be debilitating, as it is extremely painful. Chiropractic treatment aims to relieve this condition in a gentle and natural manner that will not result in costly or harmful side effects. This is how a professional chiropractor in Pickering can help you relieve your sciatica pain:

1.      Accurate Diagnosis: When you visit a chiropractor for sciatica pain, they will examine and review your medical history as well as your restricted spinal movement to determine the cause of the pain.

2.      Soft Tissue Therapy: This type of massage is an intense and almost immediate (though temporary) form of relief for sciatica pain. It will encourage your muscles to relax and release endorphins that act as natural painkillers. Having a chiropractor as the practitioner of this massage is beneficial, as chiropractors have intense knowledge of the musculoskeletal system of the body and therefore understand the exact muscles to target and how much pressure to apply.

3.      Heat and Cold Therapy: Alternating cold and heat therapy is a method used by chiropractors for many years, as it has proven to provide relief from sciatica pain. Heat will release tight muscles and dull pain, while cold will slow the blood flow and help to ease the symptoms of inflammation.

4.      Chiropractic Adjustments: A chiropractor may find it necessary to do chiropractic adjustments and spinal manipulations if a herniated disc is discovered to be the source of your sciatic pain. These adjustments will free spinal movements, relieving your pain.

Other sciatica therapies include:

  • Ultrasound and other modalities
  • Spinal decompression
  • Chiropractic exercises
  • Implementing lifestyle changes

Sciatica pain shouldn’t rule your life. With a proper diagnosis by a chiropractor in Pickering, you can begin treatment to relieve your pain and enjoy life the way you want to again. Call us at Active Integrative Medicine today to get started: 905-492-8688.